Winter doesn't officially arrive for three more weeks, if we base our definition on
astronomy. But many meteorologists consider winter to be the three coldest months of
the year. And that would make tomorrow, December 1, the beginning of "meteorological"
winter.

In the coming month, the average daily high slips from 49oF tomorrow to
39oF by New Year's
Eve, with the average daily low falling from 33oF to 24oF. That's no surprise, given the
shortness of daylight - nearly every December day has less than nine and a half hours.

An average December's snow is about three and a half inches, but there's a wide variation
from year to year. Of the last 100 Decembers, more than a third have had an inch or less,
while a handful have had 10 inches or more.

Here's something to keep in mind as we head into December: nine of the last ten Decembers
were warmer-than-average, with below-average snow. So even an average December will
probably seem cold and snowy simply because of what we have to compare it to in
recent years.